'Just a little musty': Why beef aged up to 100 days is a growing trend

Dry-aged beef is a growing trend in Calgary, but you may want to rely on experienced butchers if you'd like a taste, a Calgary food columnist says.

"It's a more high-tech process than just throwing a piece of meat in the fridge,"Elizabeth Chorney-Booth, a Food Trends columnist and Best Of Bridge chef, told The Calgary Homestretch earlier this week.

"It sort of is like making cheese and less romantically is sort of rotting right there and they do end up having to cut off a little bit of it but that's kind of where the magic is."

• Listen to the full interview about dry-aged beef

Dry-aging beef typically for28 to 100 days dries the meat, bringing out a more concentrated beef flavour and even hints of stilton, a strong-smelling English cheese, if it's ultra dried.

'Just a little musty'

Several restaurants and butcher shops in the Calgary area are offering the delicacy these days. One restaurant, Modern Steak, recently held a dinner serving 150-day dry-aged beef, the longest Chorney-Boothhas seen served locally.

It's hard to explain without making it sound like it's kind of rotten but it's really quite delicious.- Elizabeth Chorney-Booth

"There is definitely a movement towards connoisseurs of this kind of beef," shesaid.

"It's a little bit funkier, the flavours are just a little musty. It's hard to explain without making it sound like it's kind of rotten but it's really quite delicious."

But a word of caution: the butchers and restaurants put the beef in temperature and air quality controlled units and watch for food safety issues.

The same, Chroney-Booth says, likely can't be done in your home refrigerator.

With files from The Calgary Homestretch

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